


A Relevant Title

by DarthOswin



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Bendemption, F/M, Hoth (Star Wars), I'm not good at gauging ratings, Reylo - Freeform, Teen rating for non violent death.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 14:15:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21199010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthOswin/pseuds/DarthOswin
Summary: Hoth is cold, and I lightly researched hypothermia for this fic. Did you know most people die naked when they succumb to hypothermia? They feel like they get really, really hot and then they strip.... That doesn't happen here, but I felt like you, my dear reader, should know.Anyway, bad summary is this: Ben and Rey fall into a hole on Hoth and get stuck. But the Resistance, or someone, is totally going to save them.... right?





	A Relevant Title

**Author's Note:**

> The only thing stopping me from posting this months ago was a title.... So I elemented the problem. ;)

It's been a year since the Battle of Crait.

Rey, fueled by dreams of Ben Solo trying to reach out to her for help, has embarked on a solitary mission to the abysmally cold planet of Hoth, following the feelings through their bond to the New Order base.

Supreme Leader Ren is waiting for her. Dressed in all black, he is a nightmare's silhouette in a land of swirling white. The almost symbolic contrast is not lost on her, even while she is cuffed and walked into the base, down to a cell, and left to wait for night.

It's night when he comes for her. And it's under the cover of night that they blow the base sky high and run, holding each other tight and heading towards her ship, parked just two miles away.

Everything was going well for the two young heroes, right up until it wasn't.

Ben had stepped onto a section of snow.... that was no longer covering ground.

An earlier avalanche had changed the structure of the planet, and he hadn't know. His foot went through and the "ground" around it gave way too, pulling them both down into an impressively deep hole.

Hours have passed, and the cold has finally seeped through their weather heavy clothing. With no escape possible, they sit across from each other, occasionally feeling out around them for any signs of life.

There are none.

****

Rey sighed loudly. "You just had to choose Hoth."

"Like I said earlier, it wasn't entirely my choice.... But either way, I regret not fighting harder for somewhere else."

Their sabers were illuminating the space around them. He watched her shoulders slump. "I know it wasn't. Just...." She sighed again before getting up. "Maybe I could try climbing this again."

He saw her reach up with shaking arms and bare hands. His brow furrowed. "Where are your gloves?"

She looked away from the small dot of sky that was ages away from them both, and over at him. "They're by the bag. And soaked. I don't know much about weather like this, but I can't imagine wearing wet clothing is a good idea."

He jumped up. "It's not. But neither is not wearing gloves. Here." He shoved his set into her hands. She tried to shake her head and pull away, but he wouldn't let her until she took them.

"What about you?"

He shrugged, retreating to his spot. "I've been in cold weather before. This is bad, but I'm more physically prepped to handle this."

She finished putting them on and jumped up to the handhold she'd found earlier, about 6 inches out of her reach. Catching hold, she pulled herself up one handed to the next one she'd discovered, starting to scrabble for leverage for her feet. She eventually found some and continued up a few more feet before part of the wall gave way on her. Unable to keep a grip on anything, she was falling now, and trying desperately to flip herself around to land on her front at least when she felt warm arms wrap around her and pull her close as huge sections of ice fell and shattered where she would have landed.

"Are you okay?!"

Ben's alarmed voice snapped her out of her stunned state. "I'm fine.... Th-thank you."

He slowly set her down and went to let her go when a sharp pain shot through her ankle. She grabbed his arm and gasped, yanking her foot back up.

He steadied her. "What's wrong?"

"My ankle. I must have twisted it or something." She muttered, sounding somewhere between angry and annoyed.

He wrapped his arm around her and helped her walk to where she'd been sitting, sitting beside her this time. She drew her leg up and gave herself a quick once over in the limited light.

"It's already swelling." He observed quietly, but she shrugged it off.

"I've had worse. But it hurts more than usual."

"Probably from the cold. Temperature differences can do weird things to people. Here." He pulled his cloak off and swung it over her.

"Ben.... you already don't have gloves. You can't just--"

"I'll be fine. Really."

She pushed the cloak off. "No. Put it back on. It's freezing, and it's going to get worse."

"That's why I-"

"Please."

His shoulders sagged. Reluctant, he pulled it back on and fastened it. She noted the purple tint to his fingers and quickly took hold of his hands, burying them under the cloak and keeping a loose grip on them.

****

Had it been hours? Maybe days? The storm had grown worse, and it was so dark they couldn't see the sky anymore.

Rey was nodding off. The guards hadn't let her sleep, so now her body was begging her for it.

Every time she started to, Ben would wake her up. "You can't fall asleep. If you fall asleep.... you might not wake up again. We just need to wait for someone to find us, And Stay Awake."

At first she'd agreed with him, but her hope was fading as the night wore on, dropping with the temperature.

She was shivering, sitting beside him. He'd convinced her to lean into him and let him wrap his cloak draped arm around her, but it hadn't helped at all.

They had been quiet for a while now, listening to the harsh winds above them and trying not to focus on their circumstance.

Finally, with her shivering getting immensely worse, Ben broke the silence. "You should be on my lap, and we should zip our coats together."

She looked up from where she'd had her face buried against his arm. "You want me on your lap?"

He nodded. "It'll help I think. Body heat. Should keep us both a little warmer, at least for now."

She barely let him finish before she was crawling onto him. With shaking hands she quickly unzipped her coat while he unzipped his. He took up the task of zipping them together, and when he was done she was curled against his chest, her head tucked under his chin. He adjusted his cloak and their hoods, and soon they were comfortably enclosed with each other.

"You should pull your arms in." Rey whispered, pulling hers in too. "Maybe we can get your hands to warm up."

Not needing to be told twice, he followed suit and she moved around so she could tie their sleeves together, blocking off the heat from seeping out. She immediately took his hands and gasped at how cold they were, feeling them through the fabric of the gloves.

She started pulling them off to give them back, but he shook his head. "You need those more than I do."

"No I don't. Your hands are freezing and--"

"They aren't freezing. They're frozen. Warming them up at this point won't do any good."

She paused and looked up at him. It was hard to see in the dark, but she still found his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't use them to zip up the coats, I used the Force. I can't feel them. I can't feel you. I'm pretty sure they're damaged, and I doubt putting on gloves will help them. It's better that you keep them on, because I've likely already lost my hands." She went quiet, but he could feel a difference in her shivering. "Don't do that."

Sniffling, her voice warbled. "Don't do what?"

"That. Crying.... Please don't cry."

She sniffled again. "But your hands--"

"It's okay. They don't hurt anymore, and I'm happy that this happened to me instead of you. And maybe I'm wrong and help will get here sooner instead of later, and--"

"What if it doesn't come?" She was still crying, but her tone had steadied.

"Don't think like that."

"Why? I don't think anyone is coming. I don't know for sure, but if they don't.... I mean, I've been thinking and--"

"I might be new to the Resistance, but isn't your whole thing supposed to be 'Never give up hope' or whatever?"

"Ben. Look, it's just--"

"No. I'm not letting you give up hope. We're going to get out of here and--"

"Would you please stop interrupting me?! I'm trying to tell you that I love you!"

He had planned to say something else, but now every single thought had left his mind. "You.... what?"

She took a deep breath. "I love you, and in case no one comes for us, I wanted you to know." He stayed silent, mostly from shock, but she didn't know that. "If you don't feel the same way, that's fine. I--"

His lips on hers silenced her, and she relaxed into him, kissing him back and smiling against his mouth.

"I love you too." He whispered when they pulled apart, and the raw emotion in his voice filled her heart full enough to burst.

She settled against him comfortably and kissed him again, surprisingly content despite their circumstances.

****

Time had passed, but they still didn't know how long. Ben knew it was Too long though, marked by the ceasing of Rey's shivering and the lessening of his.

'This was a great idea.' Rey's voice drifted through his head, his mind hazy and unfocused.

'Hmm?'

'Sharing body heat. I'm so warm now.... That means we can go to sleep, right?'

He could feel how hopeful she was. He was tired too, but he knew better, no matter how foggy his mind might be. 'I'm not ready to go to sleep Rey.'

'Why? It'll pass the time until help arrives.'

He'd chosen his thought carefully. He knew she wasn't actually warm, just like he wasn't. He knew that help wouldn't arrive in time, but he'd finally gotten Her to believe it, and that's all that mattered right now. He wanted her calm, and happy, and believing that everything would be alright. 'I'm just not. I want to spend more time kissing you and admiring you and thinking about what we can do after we've been rescued.'

Happiness flooded their bond and he sealed his dread even further away. 'What were you thinking we do?'

'I thought, after the med bay releases us and you do what I presume will be a customary hugging of your friends, we could go get a coffee somewhere.... Somewhere with a lake and a forest.... And maybe watch the sunset.'

She could see the images in his head. They were absolutely beautiful and took her breath away. She could almost feel the rays of the setting sun and taste the warm coffee on his lips while he was kissing her, their feet bare and in the water.

The images didn't end there though, and their minds ran away with the thought of forever with each other. As the thought of years flashed before their eyes, Ben held her tighter, feeling her starting to slip away from him. He had to keep his fear in check. He'd lost her once before, but she'd come back.... and this time wasn't her fault either.

It was better to be strong, and stay focused. He couldn't go first. He Couldn't.... Because he refused to become yet another person who'd left her.

She could see him in training gear, battling against her. He could see her fierce eyes while she gave him a run for it.

He could see her in a living room of a house they shared, curled up with a good book by a crackling fire place. She could see him making dinner for them both before they headed off to bed, in the room that they shared too.

He could see her in a wedding gown, and eventually in a hospital gown. She could see them both standing in their nursery, laying their child in it's crib.

They could see themselves grow old together.

And as his heart ached for the memories they'd never make, her heart beats started to slow, as did her breaths.

'Sweetheart, please don't go to sleep yet.'

Her mind was quieting, but she heard him well enough. 'You can kiss me more when we wake up Ben. I promise.'

He would have cried as their bond weakened, but he didn't. If there was any chance she could still feel him, he wouldn't let on. He would just wait.

When she let go is when he finally closed his eyes, focusing on the weight of her in his arms and welcoming the too hot feeling under his skin, letting it settle into the corners of his mind.

****

Rey opened her eyes.

In front of her, she could see Ben, their coats having slipped as he'd lost consciousness. At first, she couldn't fathom how she'd moved from his lap, but when she spied her huddled form with his arm still resting over her, reality hit home.

Panicked, she jolted forward, scrambling towards his slumped body. She reached out a shimmery blue hand. "Ben! Ben. You have to wake up. Please! You're going to--"

"It's too late sweetheart."

She spun around to see Ben standing behind her, also a shimmery blue. "No.... oh no. I'm so sorry. I never should have fallen asleep. I just didn't know! I... Did you? Why didn't you say--"

"Why didn't I tell you we were dying?" He shook his head and smiled sadly. "I couldn't do that to you. Maybe I should have, but you were at peace. I didn't want to upset the woman I love.... besides, I made you loose hope a year ago. I couldn't do it again." He took a step closer to her. "I hope you can forgive me."

"It's okay.... I just wish.... I mean, what if help Is coming? If we'd made it just a little bit Longer..."

"We already had irreversible damage done. If we'd held out long enough somehow, we might have Survived, be we wouldn't have been the same. Alive though, so there is that."

They both went quiet for a minute before Rey slowly reached out and took his hands. "What happens now?"

"I have no idea. But if I'm like this, I guess the Light accepted me back."

A voice behind them, familiar to them both, made them jump. "Very good Ben. So you did learn something before you left the Academy."

Rey's face split into a huge grin. "Master Luke!"

"Hello Rey. I didn't expect to see you here so soon. Ben, on the other hand.... Maybe."

"Hello Uncle Luke...." He avoided the old man's eyes, awkwardly staring at the floor.

Luke walked up to his nephew, placing a hand on his shoulder. When Ben eventually looked up, he spoke. "When you were a child, I knew you had a darkness in you. Your mother felt it too, long before you were even born. I never should have turned on you. We all have darkness in us, and when you needed my help to fight it, I wasn't there. I'm sorry that I failed you. If I could take it back, I would."

Rey looked on as the last traces of Kylo Ren faded away, right as Ben hugged his uncle and then dragged Rey into the hug a moment afterwards.

"I'm sorry too." Ben said, still awkward but sincere as he let go of his uncle and kept a hold of Rey loosely.

"So.... Master Luke, what -does- happen now?"

"Well, when you're ready, you'll both reenter the Force and then...." He shrugged. "It's really something you just experience."

Rey worried her lower lip, slowly side stepping further into Ben's embrace. "But will we... I mean, he and I, um...."

He looked between the two of them briefly before his eyes widened. "Oh! So you two finally-. Right. Okay. Yes, don't worry, you'll still be together. Ben gets to do this too and it's not.... Just, trust me, you'll both be fine. So, ready?"

Ben reached down and took her hand instead, catching her attention. "What do you say?"

Going up on her tiptoes, she kissed him briefly. "I mean, we both already wanted forever, right? I'm ready if you are."

His smile melted away any worry she had left. He looked back up to his uncle who turned and lead them towards their forever. With the Light surrounding them, they faded into the everlasting serenity that only the Force, and one another, could offer.

~Fin~

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!! I'd love to hear your thoughts. :) For more stories, geekery, and all around weirdness, you can follow me on here and also on Twitter and Instagram by looking up Darth Oswin (I'm the one wearing the sparkly top hat).
> 
> May the Force be with you all.


End file.
